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Tower Defense - Vigilence
Grayglint's Gorge - Thunderhead Pass - Nova Cronum The Thunderhead Pass is a system of jagged cliffs rising up above deep chasms filled with a strange smog. Of the sparse civilization, there's naught but a few lonely Autobot outposts atop the uneven zigzagging cliff tops of Grayglint's Gorge. Everything is a sullen gray, save for the occasional glint of sterling-like chunks of ore in the cliff face which can been seen through the thick smoke. Contents: Elita One Blast Off Grumman X-29 Zipline Modified Drone Squadron Vigilence Tower Defenses Swindle Obvious exits: North leads to Docks - Praetorus Wharf. East leads to Plaza. South leads to Smoky Chasms - Thunderhead Pass. Arcee has arrived. You know Swindle has been up to something when he hasn't been seen or heard from for a few days outside his teammates. It usually means he's plotting something... and he has. Sure, the combat drones were doing good, but like any weapon production there was room for improvement. So he had taken a group of the drones, holed away in a workshop, and made a few modifcations of his own with extra tactical hardware and weaponry he had lying around. Now it was time to put it the test. And Swindle couldn't think of a better place than the outpost that has been a stubborn thorn in the side of the Decepticon seige of Cronum. Let's see what they've been up to in their little hidey hole, shall we? For once Blast Off is not being badgered specifically into being a transport, because Swindle made use of a larger, better armored (no offense bro) military shuttle that is just now landing just outside of Vigelence's sensor range. The rear loading ramp drops down and the modified drones march out, forming up into organized rows as per their programming. The most notible difference is that they have been fitted with some bigger weaponry. Swindle walks out at the end, smirking smugly to himself as he makes a few adjustments on his command unit. "Now lets see what these little bundles of potential warfare can do." With a chuckle he clicks the controls, and in unison the drones start marching towards the outpost, weapon units raised and powering up. Blast Off also emerges from the landing ramp doorway. As always, it's sort of strange to actually RIDE in a shuttle when he IS one, but better the inanimate object should have to deal with a bunch of drones swarming inside it, as opposed to him. And yes, he'd huff at the "better armored" fact- but it IS true. He comes to stand next to Swindle, watches the drones march off, then crosses his arms and looks over to his teammate. "I shall be interested in seeing what improvements you have made. I do *hope* you've programmed them to be a little less likely to shoot ME this time?" Last time they fought, Zipline had cleverly drawn the fire of the drones right back at Blast Off- and the shots had hit! The shuttleformer would NOT like a replay. Arcee happens to be at the outpost, trying to determine what is needed and what they can manage to smuggle in -- at this point, she isn't sure if the supplies will even be able to get through at all. Suddenly, one of the sentries runs over. "The drones, they're returning!" Arcee sighs. "Alright, let's take them down," she says, having no idea that these are, in fact, Drones Mark II, and not the same drones they fought during the earlier skirmish. The Autobots begin taking their positions to defend against the approaching drones. Dogfight flips and stands up into his robot mode Dogfight is here in his robot mode for once, flipping his guns in and out of storage, his typical nervous habit. To say he's on edge would be an understatement, so when the report comes in about the drones, he grins darkly, holding his blasters underslung. "Oh, this aughta be good...." the Triggerbot says, a dark glint in his optics. As one of the fastest and the smallest around, Zipline had volunteered as recon and scout for the general area around the outpost. And that suited her just fine; being cooped up in the outpost was not entirely her idea of fun. Neither was getting curb-stomped by a bunch of drones. The yellow blur screeches to a halt when her optics pick up the movement of a ship overhead. She focuses her attention high up on the incoming transport, scanners zooming in. And centering on the decepticon logo. The cheetah bot growls. "Oh come on, again?" Her tail flicks in irritation, and she quickly ducks behind a rock spire. < got 'em in my sights>> Zipline radios back to the outpost. She peeks around the edge of the spire, optics focusing on Swindle and Blast Off. <> Swindle flips the controller in his hand in response to Blast Off. "Hopefully piggy-backing a local control signal will help alieviate any... delays in response. Let's get this on, shall we?" Swindle taps the controls again. "Keep your optics open... and remember the -real- reason for these operations." On command the drones raise their guns as they march towards the base and open fire, strafing the structures with light laser fire. Combat: Swindle strikes Vigilence Tower Defenses with Modified Drone Squadron's Tactical Fire attack! -2 Blast Off nods to his teammate. "You do not need to remind me," he says calmly. "I am, as always, pure professionalism." With that, he flies up into the air, hovering and firing at the outpost defenses- confident of a hit. Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Blast Off strikes Vigilence Tower Defenses with his Professionals at Work (Laser) attack! The combaticons and their stupid drones. Yeah, this is looking real good. Zipline glowers at the oncoming drones from behind her hideout. Her tail twitches back and forth behind her as she weighs her options. Run out, and try to outrun all of those guns. Or... "Wait a second..." Zipline narrows her scanners the weapons one of those drones are carrying. "That's not... Uh-oh." <> Running out does not sound like such a good idea right now. Instead, Zipline patches into the base's scanners remotely. She uploads her own gathered telemetry data into it, providing the scanners with additional information to begin getting a much better lock on all of the decepticon targets. The base's scanners then begin beaming those details to nearby Autobots. Combat: Zipline misses Swindle with Vigilence Tower Defenses's Electromagnetic Scanners Area attack! Combat: Zipline misses Blast Off with Vigilence Tower Defenses's Electromagnetic Scanners Area attack! Combat: Zipline strikes Modified Drone Squadron with Vigilence Tower Defenses's Electromagnetic Scanners Area attack! Combat: That attack has locked on Modified Drone Squadron. (LOCKON) Since he'd been skulking about near the Decepticon lines, trying to find out more about their drone control system and why the drones attacking Nova Cronum have been so blasted effective, it's no surprise at all that the Autobot spy is late. What may surprise some is that he's coming up from the wrong side of the battle. Tearing through the canyons between cliffs he makes good time towards the Vigilence Defense position, transforming as he gets close and skulking along. The smog and deep chasms, along with the shadows cast by those jagged cliffs, are almost ideal for the Autobot spymaster as he moves towards the battle. He spots the Decepticon shuttle and grins as he laughs, "Something with that much room, bet it'd make one heck of a boom.." He moves towards the boarding ramp of the shuttle, stealing on board and out of sight for the moment. Combat: Drained 10 energon. Combat: Jazz slips into the shadows and out of sight... Combat: Automatically setting your defense level to 'Hidden' As the bombardment begins, Arcee notices the defense tower seems to be taking quite a bit of damage, and she frowns. That's...pretty much the only thing keeping them here. If they lose *that*, they'll be forced to cut and run. (And as Zipline just pointed out, these new drones just got some sort of upgrade...) She heads into the tower, and takes control of the laser turret, trying to take out some of those drones. Combat: Arcee strikes Modified Drone Squadron with Vigilence Tower Defenses's Laser Batteries attack! Oh what a lucky day for Dogfight! Upon hearing that Combaticon is here, he transforms and blasts into the sky. <'ll hold back the shuttle, you take the ground forces>>. Plus, he's one of the few Autobots who can hit Blast Off in a fight, so this is clearly a tactical decision and not just revenge Dogfight is a terrible liar. The Grumman blasts into the sky, before his wings flip over. <> he transmits over to Blast Off as he attempts to hit the shuttle with his own lasers. Swiftly, Dogfight shifts into his jet mode Combat: Grumman X-29 misses Blast Off with his Hello! (Laser) attack! -1 Swindle is just tagging along at the rear of the squadron when the outpost's defenses come to life and pepper laser fire through the ranks, toppling over several of the drones. But when they fall the others just step over them and keep marching with no consern for those already taken out. Their upgraded hardware however does register the defenses as an increased threat, and several of them stop and raise their guns to open fire not only on the laser turrent but trying to hit the robot operating it as well. Meanwhile Swindle pauses, thinking to himself. Even with scans from the outpost that was pretty accurate fire. They must have scouts out in the field as well. With a silent grunt to himself he armed his blaster, but for now was just keeping an optic open for whoever was spotting for the defenders while the squadron continued its advance. Darn that sneaky spymaster, no one has any idea he's even back there.... Combat: Swindle strikes Vigilence Tower Defenses with Modified Drone Squadron's These guys definately have a better idea what they're doing this time. Maybe. Area attack! -1 Combat: Swindle strikes Arcee with Modified Drone Squadron's These guys definately have a better idea what they're doing this time. Maybe. Area attack! -1 Blast Off dodges the return fire from Tower's defense system, and fails to notice that Jazz has snuck on board the shuttle behind him. But he DOES notice Dogfight's appearance, and how could he not as the Autobot Grumman shoots at him. The Combaticon smirks under his faceplate and quickly ducks off to the side, avoiding the attack. He replies back, <> Blast Off continues hovering, trying to keep distance as he always does- and fires off a shot. Combat: Blast Off strikes Grumman X-29 with his Punishment (Pistol) attack! Combat: Jazz has created a bomb: "Decepticon Shuttle meets Doom Shroom"! Inside the ship, Jazz goes to work..sloppy of the Decepticons to leave the vessel so unguarded. He pulls up two of the panels on the floor, leaning in and pulling bundles of wires and cabling out of the way until he finds the fuel lines. "Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!" he says as he pulls a remote detonator from a compartment. Closing that hatch he moves to the next, rigging dozens of detonator charges around the ship. The ammo storage, fuel tank, fuel lines.. By the time he's done the thing's rigged like a building about to be demolished. He ends up coming out of the ship through the front hatch instead, standing on top of the ship near the cockpit and yells out, "Hey Decepticreeps! I hope you know after we're done kickin' your tailpipes you'll be walkin' home!" he yells out as he starts running towards the back of the ship. Right about the time he says 'home' he jumps from the ship and pushes the button, detonating the entire thing in a massive explosion. Riding the blastwave he transforms mid air, landing amidst the drones with his rear bumper singed a bit, tearing off towards the Autobot lines! Combat: Unable to attack - You need to stop sneaking first. Combat: Jazz appears from the shadows... Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Jazz strikes Swindle with Decepticon Shuttle meets Doom Shroom's Huge Explosion #7783 Area attack! Combat: Jazz's Decepticon Shuttle meets Doom Shroom is destroyed! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Jazz strikes Modified Drone Squadron with Decepticon Shuttle meets Doom Shroom's Huge Explosion #7783 Area attack! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Jazz strikes Blast Off with Decepticon Shuttle meets Doom Shroom's Huge Explosion #7783 Area attack! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Jazz strikes himself with Decepticon Shuttle meets Doom Shroom's Huge Explosion #7783 Area attack! Combat: Jazz (Jazz) used "Huge Explosion #7783": A Level 6 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 29 damage. Combat: Used up 1 Bombs. 0 remain. Combat: Your defense level has been reset to Neutral. And of course, when I say his bumper is 'singed a bit' I mean that the spoiler is blown clean off and his rear tires are on fire as he hauls rear towards the Autobot lines, "YOWSA, that's gonna leave a mark! Somebody call a cleanin' bot, I think I just made a mess!" Arcee remains steadfastly in the tower, even after she's shot through the gunning aperature. It's absolutely critical that they maintain this defensive line.She's counting on tough resistance from the drones. And some fancy footwork from the Combaticons. What she ISN'T expecting, however, is for Jazz to blow up the shuttle in some kind of crazy sneak attack, and take everything in the battlefield with it. "What!!" The explosion is so close, the tower wobbles slightly, and the explosive noise is deafening to sensitive audials. "No. WAY..." Arcee adds to the mayhem by swinging the mortar launcher around, and firing it in the direction where she last saw the drones. Now it's SMOKEY out there, as well. Unbelievable. Combat: Arcee strikes Modified Drone Squadron with Vigilence Tower Defenses's Mortar Launcher attack! <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "That...that took some cogs. You still functioning?!" <'Autobot'> Dogfight says, "That was amazing!" Grumman X-29 is rocked by Blast Off's shot, but his main issue is having missed. The Triggerbot's legendary anger spikes up. <>. The Grumman corkscrews in the sky again as Jazz's bomb goes off! <> Time to take advantage of a distraction: Dogfight knows he's bulkier than Blast Off, so if this goes badly, at least the Combaticon will end up worse. The Grumman dives, attempting to smash right into Blast Off! Combat: Grumman X-29 sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Grumman X-29 strikes Blast Off with his Trying to take down the other Shuttle! (Ram) attack! <'Autobot'> Jazz says, "A little singed and my audials are gonna be ringin' for a cycle or so, but it'll take more than that ta put me down! They're disoriented Autobot's push 'em back inta the canyons!" Zipline's blue optics blink at Swindle from behind the rocky spire. Then they're gone. Or rather, Zipline is gone, moving from one side of the spire to the other to peer out at the enroaching drones. She crouches down closer to the ground, the hydrolics in her legs tensing. Then in one powerful thrust, Zipline is off. Sure enough, there's their spotter. Keep an eye on the kitty! Zipline is moving fast along the edge of the drones, likely drawing their fire when they notice her. Or drawing them to move after her. <> She angles her trajectory towards the base at a more straight line, trying to ignore the massive explosion behind her. <> One of the grunts in the base scrambles to the blockade control, looking a bit confused. But he hits the blockade controls, and a series of blockade walls flip up from the ground just after Zipline passes over them. It gives her some cover, but some might even smack right into some of the drones or decepticons on the ground, a bit like stepping on a rake. Combat: Zipline sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: Zipline misses Swindle with Vigilence Tower Defenses's Instant chest high walls! Convenient! Area attack! Combat: Zipline strikes Modified Drone Squadron with Vigilence Tower Defenses's Instant chest high walls! Convenient! Area attack! Falling forward, Jazz's arms and legs pull in and his head recedes as he shifts into the form of the high performance Porsche 935 Turbo. Swindle is so focused on trying to spot the spotter that he doesn't realize there's someone behind them until Jazz shouts. "Huh?" He turns partway to look, just as the meister of style comes barreling out of the shuttle. His reaction? Pull out his datacron, flip it open like a cellphone, and hold it up to his head. "Deadweight? Cancel the demolition insurance on the shuttle." The explosion rips out the bottom of the shuttle practically as fuel lines and ammo stores are caught up in the blast, causing it to roll out like a storm of smoke and fire as the upper portion of the shuttle crashes to the ground at the center. Swindle gets bowled over as the violent eruption tears through the rear ranks of the squadron, and bits of drones raining down. A mortar blast in the center of the squad adds to the chaos. Yet the remaining combat drones march out of the smoke, already taking aim at the small cat-bot barreling away. Until hidden barricades start popping up from the ground. More focused on their targets ahead, the first flank of drones crash right into them. Swindle is just getting up from the ground as a barricade pops up right in front of up, jerking himself backward out of the way before getting a panel to the face. "That little..." And then groans as the drones struggle with the blockades, and thumbs a different command on his controller. After a moment the drones pause, then their weapon units shift and start belching out gouts of flames at barricades, defenders and anything else they can try to draw a bead on. When in doubt, just burn it ALL down. Combat: Swindle strikes Porsche Turbo with Modified Drone Squadron's Some Mechs Just Want To Watch The World Burn Area attack! Combat: Swindle (Swindle) used "Flamecaster Drones": A Level 4 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 11 damage. Combat: Swindle's attack has damaged your Agility! Combat: Swindle strikes Zipline with Modified Drone Squadron's Some Mechs Just Want To Watch The World Burn Area attack! Combat: Swindle strikes Arcee with Modified Drone Squadron's Some Mechs Just Want To Watch The World Burn Area attack! Combat: Swindle strikes Vigilence Tower Defenses with Modified Drone Squadron's Some Mechs Just Want To Watch The World Burn Area attack! "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!"" Blast Off smirks inwardly again as his shot connects and Dogfight is hit. He begins shaking his head, tsk tsking... at least until Dogfight mentions Blast Off's expression during the battle the other day. What, was it THAT obvious when Wraith showed up? The shuttleformer huffs, looking slightly less smug now. Slightly. He's trying to think of a retort when a shout can be heard behind him. He whirls his head around to see Jazz running out of their shuttle and saying something about "walking". Yeah, right, like Decepticons walk anywhere anyway-wait a minute. Oh slag. There's no time to react though- the massive shuttle explodes, sending the sentient Combaticon shuttle reeling, actually knocked head over heels and spinning through the air. There's massive damage... his internal systems inform him that that one shot has halved his health. His heat shields seem to be extra sensitive to getting blown up- I mean, even *more* senstive than most already are. But the damage doesn't end there. Dogfight comes right at him- and adds insult- and more injury- to injury. Right now, Dogfight's a lot bigger than he is, and the impact just tears into the weakened seams, further damaging him. Red warnings are now flashing everywhere... he's gone from just fine- to being aware he's not going to last much longer. But if he must begin thinking of retreat, first he wants to give a parting "gift"... but to who? He somehow regains control, and fires a blast at Jazz. First things first- retaliation- for his "fellow" shuttle. Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Blast Off misses Porsche Turbo with his Revenge for my "fellow" shuttle attack! Combat: Blast Off (Blast Off) used "Ionic Blaster": A Level 4 RANGED attack. It isn't long before the fires within the tower wage out of control, and without a means to douse the fast rising flames, Arcee is forced to leave her station. But one thing that the smoke and fires do is provide some effective cover for those forced to endure it. Once out of the tower, she pulls her pistols out of subspace, and begins slinking through the chaos quietly...it's soon going to be time to hit some of these goons head-on. She already knows what she's doing. Combat: Arcee takes extra time to assist Blast Off's next attack. Even Jazz is reeling from that explosion, the shuttle having gone up far better than he expected. "That's what I get for ridin' a desk so long!" he exclaims as he tears off towards the Autobot defensive position. He's trying to swerve and weave through the ranks of the Decepticon drones and it means that he's an easy target for the drones as they turn their firepower up. Quite literally. "Youch! Things are really heatin' up today! Come on now, I know I'm hot stuff but this is gettin' ridiculous!" he calls out as panels flip to deploy his massive speaker system, along with bringing that light emitter online. Pulsing bass and flashing lights wash over the drones, trying to keep them off balance and confused in order to hinder their assault on the tower. Combat: Arcee takes extra time to assist Grumman X-29 's next attack. Combat: Porsche Turbo strikes Modified Drone Squadron with his Sound and Light Show attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Modified Drone Squadron's Agility! (Crippled) Combat: Drained 17 energon. Dogfight flips and stands up into his robot mode Dogfight is send recoiling from his impact with Blast Off, so rather than attempt to lift himself back up, he instead transforms, landing on the ground with his blasters ready. <> he asks Blast Off as he faces the drones. Dogfight's main weapons typically function as flamethrowers, so he knows enough about the dangers of using such weapons. And there's oh so many drones here... "Oh, its just about to heat up Jazz! Might wanna stand back!" The Triggerbot's Blowtorch Blasters burst into life as he fires both barrels at the drones, hoping to detonate their own internal fuel storage and take them down! One sure way to deal with a speed demon; turn everything into fire. When the air before her errupts into flames, Zipline's eyes briefly go wide. She deploys her claws, trying to stop herself in time. But at her speed all that manages to do is to make her go tumbling over herself, paws over head. It's a tumble that sends Zipline right into the flames. When the flames clear, smoke lingers on the battlefield. It makes it hard to see anything below those convenient, chest high walls. Then, the smoke shifts slightly. A pair of glowing blue eyes shine through the gray, followed by a dull hummmm. "Yeeaaah, you can go now," Zipline's voice says through the smoke. Electricity sparks and crackles, visible through the gray smoke. Then *WHUD*, the smoke billows and clears out in a column as a projectile flies through it at high speeds, over the heads of the drones, and right at Swindle. Meanwhile, a singed and charred Zipline is propelled backwards OUT of the smoke the other way by the recoil of her cannon. Combat: Dogfight strikes Modified Drone Squadron with his I'm the firestarter twisted firestarter attack! Combat: Zipline misses Swindle with her Thing's got kick both ways attack! -1 The soundwaves from Jazz's speakers rebounding through the burning barricade panels do a good job of disrupting the drone's navigation systems, leaving them disoriented for Dogfight to set a few of them on fire in retaliation for them lighting up most of the area. The smoke isn't helping, but due to Swindle's modifications to their tactical hardware they don't start firing blindly as they try and navigate out of the blistering haze. Blast Off can thank him for that later, he's got enough trouble as it is. The modifications have helped put a dent in the defenses, but the position is just so well established. None the less, the Autobots will have some work ahead of them to repair what damage has been done. The unmistakable sound of a railcannon firing is enough to get Swindle to duck down on reflex, the shot sailing off somewhere behind him. "That little pest.." Okay, drones are drones. Time for a little payback. Swindle gets partway up, only to dart forward and transform. He may not be as speedy as the cheetah but he's got the advantage of all terrain driving, the jeep rolling over a half collapsed and smoldering barricade with ease. "Time to end what the drones start. You've meddled in my machinations for the last time kitten!" Instead of his usual turret he deploys one of his own modified weapons, sending a blazing stream of plasma powered fire scorching towards the tape bot. Swindle folds down and in on himself to become a military grade off-road jeep. Combat: Military Gunnery Jeep misses Zipline with the Swindle-forged Plasma Conflagerator attack! Blast Off ...misses?!? Slag it all. He *really* wanted that shot to hit, too... but the Autobot spy is slick, fast- and gone before the Combaticon's shot gets there. Also, being thrashed within an inch of his life is NOT helping him right now, either. Blast Off hovers in the air, smoking, sparking, and looking throroughly miserable and burnt. The occasional static rifts through his optic visors, and he has to shake his head to clear his vision. There's a brief moment where he could almost swear he's been given some stray targeting data, but surely that's a mistake? It's hard to tell in this mess, and with the feedback loops confusing his systems he's not sure. Blast Off probably ought to run off at this point, but the proud shuttle has always found that hard to do. Not at least without a parting shot- and that last miss *doesn't count* slag it all..... Jazz is off somewhere dealing with drones, but that leaves... Dogfight. The shuttleformer turns to glare at him, raising his ionic blaster down at the Triggerbot. "I am a...Combaticon. *zktt* ...*I* will be the one making spare parts out of YOU, not the...other way around." He fires, but he's tired, injured, and the feedback loops keep interferring with his tracking. Of course, if there really WAS some targeting data, that *could* help.... Meanwhile, he radios Swindle, some static slightly audible in the message, <> Namely because he may not last much longer, but he doesn't want to admit that. Combat: Blast Off strikes Dogfight with his I'll take care of YOU anyway.....I hope attack! -1 Combat: Arcee sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Dogfight sets his defense level to Fearless. Dogfight is laughing as he wades into the drones he manages to set on fire! He's so confident, in fact, he doesn't register Blast Off's presence, assuming the Combaticon flew off. He regrets that, Blast Off's ionic blaster strikes home, knocking Dogfight down and damaging his systems. "... How many... Slaggin' times... Do I gotta WRECK you, before you get the picture I-" Dogfight transforms, rocketting into the sky. "DON'T CARE". The Grumman's bladed wings seem to shine a bit in the fire light, almost as if prepared for what will happen.... "WHAT YOU CALL YOURSELF!". Dogfight attempts to rocket past Blast Off, and slice right in with one of those wings! Swiftly, Dogfight shifts into his jet mode Combat: Porsche Turbo sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Grumman X-29 strikes Blast Off with his Serrated Wingtips attack! -3 Combat: Grumman X-29 's risky attack leaves him temporarily incapacitated! Arcee is all about the helping. Clearly. As she sees that slick Jeep Combaticon tryng to put a hurt on Zipline, Arcee provides the railgun kitty with some backup firepower. What kind of sicko would shoot at a cute little kitty, anyhow... The Porsche 935 Turbo's front end suddenly pushes up from the ground, the rear pulling forward beneath it as Jazz stands up into robot form. Jazz pops a sharp turn and races along the front lines of the drones as he takes stock of the situation on the battlefield. <> Jazz radio's in warning as he spots Swindle giving chase. He swerves and uses one of the barricade panels as a ramp, launching into the air and transforming as he falls down towards the Drone line. He uses one of the drones as a landing pad, using it as a spring board to launch towards the next, grabbing it around the neck and spinning a kick towards the next in line. Flexing with the momentum he flips the one he'd grabbed and throws it into another, trying to create enough havoc in the drones to disrupt their advance further. Combat: Arcee strikes Military Gunnery Jeep with her Dual Heavy Blaster Pistols attack! Combat: Jazz strikes Modified Drone Squadron with his Stylish Takedown attack! -3 Combat: Drained 2 energon. Another WHUD issues from the other direction when Zipline finds her way up to the wall of the base. "Wicked killer bite on that thing," She mutters, shaking her head to clear it. The cannon is still sparking, its rails glowing hot from the super-speed projectile. She spreads her paws out in front of her, pushing herself up onto them. Zipline's ears flick up slightly at the sound of that voice coming towards her. That is a good motivator to get her head back in the game. She looks up just in time to see Swindle aim the plasma rifle at her, just in time for the plasma to reflect off of her optics. And she does what any good cat does when faced with a situation like this. Zipline jumps, near straight up in the air. Plasma scorches through the air just under her paws, but doesn't melt them. It still leaves a nice scorch mark on the wall that was behind her. But afterwards, Zipline doesn't come back down. That's because she's clinging with all four limbs onto the barrel of a rather large vulcan cannon that was sticking out over the edge of the base's fortification. <> Zipline beams back to Jazz. Then, sarcastically, < think I made a friend.>> Zipline shifts herself up onto the top of the barrel, then slides down it and into the gunner's chair. Aparently, these things are easy enough to use that even a tape can handle it, because the cannon barrel then swivels down, and trains in on Swindle. "Here, I got you something too!" After a brief warm-up spin, the vulcan gun begins rapid firing anti-armor rounds at Swindle. Combat: Zipline sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Zipline strikes Military Gunnery Jeep with Vigilence Tower Defenses's What's more deadly and cute than a kitten with a gun attack! Military Gunnery Jeep skids sideways to avoid crashing into the pink fury abruptly charging back into the battle, taking a barrage of gunfire across his side in doing so before he manages to peel out again. The vulcan fire comes down at just the right angle to punch several times into the plasma weapon, blowing it off his backside. "It's a good thing that was used!", he comments to no one in particular. Being used as blunt instruments against each other was not something the drones' modified programming was designed with in mind. Especially in the erratic way Jazz does so with his flashy moves. As he swings away the last drone crashing into others the body snaps off, leaving the head in his hands as the rest slams into another group and they all go tumbling off in a heap. Hmmm that head unit might hold some useful information if they can get someone to hack it though. There must be some sort of recall command given as Swindle is peeling out, because what remains of the drones start jetting out of here as well. Combat: Military Gunnery Jeep sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Military Gunnery Jeep begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Grumman X-29 Blast Off DID have targetting data on Dogfight after all. Was it Swindle... he checks... nope, not Swindle. In fact, the signiature appears to read as Autobot in origin... but no... that must be one of those strange feedback loops he's having. He doesn't have any more time to ponder, though, as Dogfight transforms and comes racing up towards him. Blast Off looks up and deftly dodges out of the way- or well, he *would*... but an engine seizes momentarily and he falters. The damage he's been dealt so far is extensive and hindering his flight systems now. Actually, hindering MOST of his sytems. This leaves him open to get sliced into by the fast (and again larger) Grumman X-29. He cries out in pain as Dogfight knocks into him, leaving yet another calling card- not a burn this time, but one of those long, nasty gashes in his side. The impact finally sends him crashing down into the ground, leaving a nice little impact crater. An extremely annoyed looking shuttleformer soon crawls up from it, staggering to his feet. He's a wreck, indeed. First Wraith sends him packing... now Jazz and Dogfight. This is getting humiliating... and infuriating. He looks over to Swindle, still awaiting a response- and slag it all, that Jeep is just streaking out of here without even a word to the wayside. Lovely. Well, that does it. He glares up at Dogfight, one fist balled up and one hand pointing at the 'Bot. "THIS is NOT over. I will destroy you, BURY you under the dirt of the Rust Seas, where you should still BE... and make sure you STAY THERE next time!" Dogfight WILL know and FEAR the Combaticon name... well, someday. Blast Off transforms a little shakily, then the only still even semi-functioning shuttle rcokets off... as well as he can manage. With a disdainful shrug, Blast Off transforms into a space shuttle. Combat: Space Shuttle begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. <> Sure, Dogfight sounds chipper enough taunting Blast Off, but, well, his engine's stalled from that impact. <> Dogfight transmits to his own faction as he makes a somewhat decent crash landing. "... Think we'll call that a victory?" he asks, transforming back to his short robot mode Combat: Grumman X-29 takes a moment to shake off the effects of the last attack. "Did we do it?" Zipline asks over the whine of the cannon powering down. She puts her paws on the edge of the cannon and lifts herself up, just so she can even see over it. "HAH! We did it! We blasted those deceptijerks good!" She throws a paw up over her head, digits curled up in a sort of aproximation of a fist. "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR SOLICITING! WE DON'T WANT TO BUY YOUR STUPID DRONES!" She shouts after them. Jazz nimbly dodges out of the way, still holding that spare drone head he picked up, "Look out Dogfight, man you look like I feel buddy.." he says as he moves to help the little planebot that could. Stooping down, he offers a hand to Dogfight as he looks back at Zipline, "That's the spirit Zipline! You tell em!" he approves. Arcee has left. Arcee heads back to OOC-Land. Dogfight flips and stands up into his robot mode Dogfight manages to drag himself up. "You're worried about me? I do that for a living, hahaa!". He looks Jazz over. "Yeah, uh, I'd be worried about, y'know, the guy who kind of got thrown from an exploding shuttle? That was amazing!" Jazz laughs at Dogfight's comment, "Aww man, it wasn't nothin', I was just sneakin' around in the back while you guys were out here doin' all the hard work!" He starts heading back towards the tower, "You all did a great job, just great! You sure sent those Decepticreeps packin, hah, I bet Blast Off will be droppin' parts all the way back to Polyhex!" He smiles, "Heck, we even got us a little trophy here!" he says holding up the dismembered drone head, "thing's just about fully intact, we gotta see what the fella's back at base can make out of what's inside! Who knows, maybe we can find the frequency of the drone controller and Blaster can figure out a way to jam it!" The spy master is certainly in high spirits it seems, even if he is trashed and burnt over most of his form.